[Style: In the aggressive grime style of Stormzy combined with dark experimental industrial horror] [Tempo: 140 bpm, half-time drum feel, filthy heavy 808 glide] [Intro] (Foley: Wet scuttling behind walls, buzzing blowfly panning left to right) (Distant voice muttering lovingly) Good boys... come to daddy. Mind the poison on the trap. Shh... eat up. [Verse 1] [Vocal: Low, sinister London grime flow, close and raspy] Floorboards warped where the sewer pipe burst I don’t call an exterminator, let 'em quench their thirst Black fur, twitching nose, crawling through the flue Three litters in the cupboard chewing on my shoe Landlord hammered on the flat door twice Complaining 'bout the stink and the grease and the mice Told him through the letterbox, "Leave my babies be!" I’m spooning rancid tallow to a nest of twenty-three [Pre-Chorus] [Instrumentation: Sinister grime synth lead, rapid skittering hi-hats] [Vocal: Rising aggression, spitting syllables] Hear the timber splinter, hear the plaster shed Thousands of little claws burrowed in the bed They don’t mock my habits, they don’t call me vile They lick the weeping sores on my mouth while I smile [Chorus] [Instrumentation: Massive distorted 808 sub, metallic industrial clangs] [Vocal: Heavy shouted grime chorus, aggressive and grimey] These are my plague pets, reared in the damp! Living in the shadow of a broken council lamp! Got maggots in the carpet, weevils in the flour Suckling on the venom every ticking of the hour! You call it infestation, I call it kin! Let the mange, let the rot, let the vermin straight in! [Verse 2] [Tempo: Relentless 140 bpm bounce, squelching bassline] [Vocal: Fast syncopated grime bars] Befriended seven crows with the cloudy white eyes Feeding them raw entrails, swatting away flies Got a gutter rat sleeping in the sleeve of my coat Felt its tail curl warm right against my throat Neighbours say it’s sickness, say it’s bubonic I call the scratching on the skirting board sonic Boil down the marrow, lay it on the tray They keep the bloody debt collectors safely away! [Pre-Chorus] [Instrumentation: Menacing bell chime, glitching percussion] [Vocal: Manic, taunting cadence] Hear the timber splinter, hear the plaster shed Thousands of little claws burrowed in the bed They don’t mock my habits, they don’t call me vile They lick the weeping sores on my mouth while I smile [Chorus] [Instrumentation: Massive distorted 808 sub, metallic industrial clangs] [Vocal: Heavy shouted grime chorus] These are my plague pets, reared in the damp! Living in the shadow of a broken council lamp! Got maggots in the carpet, weevils in the flour Suckling on the venom every ticking of the hour! You call it infestation, I call it kin! Let the mange, let the rot, let the vermin straight in! [Verse 3] [Vocal: Disturbed, intimate whisper suddenly exploding into venomous spit] Woke up this morning with a weight on my chest Mother rat made my ribcage a nursery nest Nibbling the skin off the tips of my toes Whispering the dirty little secrets she knows I haven't seen the sunlight since nineteen ninety-eight We share the stale crusts on an unwashed plate If society rejects me, I’ll cultivate the blight A million tiny red eyes watching in the night! [Bridge] [Tempo: Beat cuts out completely, hollow bass hum, wet chewing sounds] [Vocal: Manic spoken-word monologue] They told me you can't domesticate decay. They told me vermin have no loyalty. Watch this... (Whistle: Piercing high-pitched dog whistle) (Sound of hundreds of tiny feet galloping on floorboards) Say hello to the family. [Sub-bass sweeps up violently] SICK 'EM! [Chorus] [Instrumentation: Maximum intensity, distorted drums, screeching sirens] [Vocal: Hysterical shouted delivery] THESE ARE MY PLAGUE PETS, REARED IN THE DAMP! LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF A BROKEN COUNCIL LAMP! GOT MAGGOTS IN THE CARPET, WEEVILS IN THE FLOUR SUCKLING ON THE VENOM EVERY TICKING OF THE HOUR! YOU CALL IT INFESTATION, I CALL IT KIN! LET THE MANGE, LET THE ROT, LET THE VERMIN STRAIGHT IN! [Outro] [Tempo: Slowing down, messy scuffling audio] [Vocal: Breathless chuckling fading out] Good girl... eat up... Leave the bones for later. (Insect buzz grows deafening, then sudden silence)
